The Gang And I
by rusty james
Summary: Randy Patterson goes to school with the greaser gang, but when an accident traps Two Bit, it's a race against time to save him. Please read and review!


" The Gang And I"

Chapter One - Pressure

It all started that one day that I was at school with the greaser gang. The greaser gang is a group of guys that I hang out with. They're really fun to be around. My best friend in the gang is Dallas Winston. We go up to Buck's once and a while to have fun, but we mostly go around walkingh in the mall or go to the Dingo to try to pick up some girls. We were in the same class with Ponyboy Curtis and Johnny Cade.

Two Bit unfortanatly wasn't in our class, but we always see him after school and on the weekends. Yeah, it's perfect for us, but one day everything changed. It was a day that changed everyone's lives in the highschool. I remember that we were all in science class, nearly falling asleep. We couldn't understand half of what the guy was trying to tell us. I expectd Dally to maybe spit a spitball at the teacher, but he didn't today. I suppose he was just hungry and not thinking of anything else. Luckilly for him, lunch was in ten minutes. I was hungry, too. I hadn't eaten breakfast and lunch wasn't until 12:30 here at the school. By the way, my name is Randy Patterson.

I learned later that down in the basement, it all started. This highschool was very old and they still used a boiler to heat the place. The janitor was out sick this day and he was the one that usually decreased the pressure on the boiler. Unfortanatly, they had a guy fill in for him who forgot to decrease the pressure, so while the room was empty exept for a few faculty men, the steam began to blow out from the valves.

Meanwhile, the bell rang for lunch. Dally, Ponyboy, Johnny, and I ran out of the classroom to meet up with Two Bit who would be getting out of history class. " Hey!" Ponyboy called as we went up to our lockers. Two Bit was already putting his things away and fetching his lunch. " Hi, guys," he said. " I'll be up at lunch in a minute, Mr. Mson said that he wanted me to go and get some of his papers from the teacher's lounge." " Why don't you just blow him off?" Dally asked. " Because I know Mr. Smith, he's a friend of my dad's and I wouldn't want to upset him." With those words, he took off in the crowd of kids running toward the cafeteria. The rest of use headed there, too. Now that I think of it, that was the last time any of us ever saw Two Bit walking perfectly.

I learned that the boiler below us was spitting out steam herendously and there was no time to waiste to shut it down. The only problem was that this boiler was so old that it could explode any second.

In the cafeteria, I was sitting with Ponyboy, Dally, and Johnny. " So," Dally said top me. " You want to head out to Buck's tonight?" " Sure," I said. " I haven't seen Buck in a while and I haven't got anything else to do tonight." Ponyboy slowly took out his switch blade. Johnny looked at him like he was nuts, but the only thing that he was trying to do was open his bag of chips. Ponyboy quickly put his switch blade back. I laughed and said, " Man, Ponyboy, you don't want anyone seeing you with that. You already told us about the time when you were disecting the frog." Ponyboy chuckled. He was about to say something else, but before he could, there was an ear splitting sound that came from across the room.

Before we knew it, the floor blew right up, throwing tiles at our table. Two tables shot up towards the ceiling, throwing people everywhere. I could hear screaming, shouting, and wailing. A huge light ficture above us flew outward, smashing right through the window of the hall door. The boiler had blown up, shooting right up through the ceiling of the school.

All of the uninjured people bean getting up, panicking. A crowd of people shot through the shattered doors. I followed the gang out into the hall. Steam was making the hall seem fog filled. There were sounds of rumbling coming from the basement. Some people were being trampled by others from the panic, but the gang and I managed to stay up and running. We came to the stairs and decended them to the floor right above the basement. It wasn't as crowded down here. In our sight, we saw that there were huge holes wripped right through the floor to the ceiling and in the ceiling hole, we could see the now empty cafeteria.

Johnny was about to cross on the side of the hole below us, but Ponyboy shouted, " Hold it, Johnny, the table's going to fall!" He certainly was right. Above us, in the cafeteria, a table standing right next to the hall was rocking back and forth until it came down, through the other hole, and crashed onto the basement floor. We ran past the hole and went into the teacher's lounge.

Chapter Two - Stuck

" Two Bit?" I called as we entered the teacher's lounge. The room was in ruins. A huge piece of the ceiling had come down to the floor and split into the tiles. The chalkboard was smashed in half and the chairs were covered in tangled metal and splintered wood. " There he is!" Johnny shouted. Dally and I ran over to the wreckage of the room. Below the ceiling was Two Bit, crushed by the force. He was halfway through the floor and he looked like he was in bad pain. " Two Bit!" I said. " How bad are you hurt?" Dally asked. Two Bit groaned. " Oh, my legs are, guys. I can't feel them, they might be broken."

Ponyboy picked up some pieces of wood so we could see Two it better. " Give me your arm," Ponyboy instructed. Two Bit shook his head. " I can't," he said. " it's broken for sure. I can't even move it."

" Maybe we can try to lift this," I suggested. Dallyu nodded and said, " Yeah, let's try to lift it. Johnny sighed. " I don't think I'm strong enough to lift this." " You'll have to try," I said. Dally and grabbed onto one of the edges of the large piece of ceiling. Johnny and Ponyboy got on the other side and did the same. " Okay," Dally said. " On three, we'll try to lift it, okay?" We all nodded. Dally began counting, " One, two, three." We all lifted using all of our strength. It just wouldn't budge. We rested for a secod and then tried again. This time we could slightly feel it rising. " It's coming!" Johnny said, but it fell right after that. Two Bit let out a scream.

Ponyboy leaned down. " Oh, I'm sorry, Two Bit," he said. " You'll just have to hang in there, okay? We'll get you out of here in no time." The rest of us nealed down to talk to Two Bit. " You couldn't fit another guy around this thing," I explained. If only we had a drill or something he'd be out of here in a few minutes." " Thanks, guys," Two Bit said. " I'm glad that I have friends that care about me." " Randy," Dally said to me. " You and I can go and get help while Johnny and Ponyboy stay here with Two Bit so he's not alone. Someone's got to help us."

I nodded. " Okay, let's go." " We'll take care of him, guys," Ponyboy said. Dally and I headed out of the room to get some help. There were still people running around, screaming, but it wasn't as bad as before. There was still a slight steam rising through the huge holes. " Let's get to the principal!" I told Dally. He nodded as we both ran up the stairs. People kept running by us, bumbing us without even caring. There was a crowd of kids in the doorway of the office. The teachers were trying to control tyhe crowd. " Listen, everyone," the principal announced. " There has been an explosion, but there is no danger at all, I assure you." " Wait!" Dally shouted. " Our friend, Two Bit, he's pinned in the wreckage, he needs help!"

The principal nodded. " Alright, I'll be with you in a minute, where is he?" " The teacher's lounge." Dally looked at me. " You know," he said. " I don't think that we'll be coming back here to school for a while now since they'll be fixing the place up. I can't believe that I was ever a bad guy, you know, stealing and stuff. I'll be sure to change, Randy, I'll be sure to change into a better person than I was." " Oh, Dally," I said. "  
You're already a great person. You're my best friend and you need to know that, Dally. You're not a bad person at all. Sometimes you might be misunderstood, but you're actually a good person, Dally, believe me, you are."

The principal came up to us right after that. " Let's go!" he said. He went in front of us. Dally and I followed. Johnny was waiting for us right outside the doorway. He went back in as we entered. He told Two Bit, " Randy and Dally have the principal here, he's here to help!" Two Bit let out a sigh of relief and said, " Oh, oh, thank heavens!"

The principal tried lifting it, but he gave up pretty quickly. " Well," he said. " I can see that no one will be able to lift this thing with their bare hands. Did you try lifting him through from here?" " We already tried that," ponyboy explained. " His legs are caught under it and his arm is broken." Two Bit spoke up. " My leg was cut by some piece of metal. I need to get a tetnis shot soon." The principal suddenly looked worried. " wait a minute," he said. " He does need a shot. He could get blood poisoning. I'll ty to get a hold of a doctor. The nurse isn't here and the phone lines are out."

" Then, what are we going to do?" I asked. The principal shook his head. " There's nothing we can do now, but I'm having everyone else taken out of the building, so you guys can leave, there's nothing more that you can do now." " No!" Dally explained. " we're his friends, we won't leave him." Two Bit smiled for the first time since the accident. I could see that he was glad that we wouldn't leave him. Without another word, the principal left us all in the room.

Chapter Three - Obstacles

" Listen," Ponyboy said. " Two of us can stay here with Two Bit, alright? I think that the rest of us should go and see if there's anything else we can do. The more that come, the more powerful we'll be, alright?" " Johnny?" I said. " How about you and I stay here while Dally and Ponyboy?" Johnny nodded. Ponyboy and Dally left and as soon as they did, Two Bit said, " i know there's nothing we can do, anyway, but why have my friends stay here when they can get out?" " Please," Johnny and I tried to comfort him. " We don't mind staying here at all. It's for you, Two Bit, we'll be here for you."

Two Bit smiled and let out a breath as if he thought of something. " Oh," he said. " There is one thing that just caught my mind. " What is it?" Johnny asked. " If I don't get a doctor to give me a shot soon, I could die." " Don't talk like that!" I told Two Bit. " Youi'll be fine, the principal's going to get a doctor now. Dally and Ponyboy will be back soon and in the meantime, you rrelax, Two Bit, you relax."

Dally later told me that Ponyboy and he went to the office, but the principal had gone and they couldn't find him, so they went out in front of the building to see what was going on there. School buses were coming to pick everyone up. I saw this when I went out in the hall to look out the window. Dally told me that one teacher was trying to get them on a bus and he nearly had to punch the guy in the mouth to get free of him.

As Johnny and I stayed with Two Bit, we noticed that there was something strange in the air. It smelled really horrible, like a gas of some sort. Two Bit looked up at the vent on the wall and said, " Oh, God, look, look! It's gas from the boiler!" It was coming in through the vents alright. We were sure that i was toxic. " Randy, Johnny," Two Bit told us. " Find a piece of paper and put it over the vent!" Johnny and I got up and looked around. " We can't see any, Two Bit," Johnny said. " Guys, please," Two Bit said. " Find a piece of paper." I sighed. " But the room is all wrecked." " Try out in the hall, there's got to be some paper, this is a school!" Johnny said, " Out in the hall, there's no floor, there's just a big hole." Two Bit sighed. " Go out and see if Johnny and ponyboy are coming, then."

Johnny nelt down by Two Bit and said, ' We won't leave you, Two Bit, we won't leave." " Listen," I said. " Johnny, you stay here and I'll go out and find Dally and Ponyboy, alright?" Johnny nodded and I went out to look for them.

The hall wasn't crowded anymore. There was only a handful of people left roaming around the crippled building. All of the shouts and screams had died off and it seemed as if no one was there to help us. I passed the two huge holes and ran up the stairs and out the front entrance. most of the buses had left exept for two. Dally and Ponyboy were trying to persuade one of the drivers to stay for Two Bit once we got him out. I went over to them. " Hey, Randy!" Dally said as I got up to them. " Is this guy going to wait for us?" I asked. " No," Dally said. " What do you mean?" I asked. " Doesn't he understand the situation?" Ponyboy nodded and said, " Yeah, but he has his orders to take everyone home now and that's the way it figures."

" Well," I said. " where's the principal, did he send help?" Dally shook his head. " I don't know, he was nowhere in sight. We looked everywhere out here. The last people inside are out now. The building's empty exept for us." I looked back at the building. There were four broken windows at the front which must have shattered during the explosion. Glass covered the pavement outside of the school. Johnny and Two Bit were the only ones inside.

" look," the bus driver suddenly said. Once I drop off everyone, I'll come back and help you, okay?" The three of us nodded as he took off. Ponyboy, Dally, and I were left in the empty parking lot. " Look," Ponyboy said as we entered the school. " There's a lot of obstacles that we've been going through today."

Chapter Four - One Hour

The three of us returned to the teacher's lounge. Johnny was sitting in a chair. Two Bit now had his head rested over a pillow that Johnny later told me had found and gave it to Two Bit so he would be comfortable. I suppose Johnny had gotten a piece of paper because there was now one covering the vent. There were only tiny little puffs of gas coming out from it now.

" Hey, guys," Johnny said as the three of us entered the room. " Hi," ponyboy said. We all sat on the floor which Johnny had managed to clear a little of debris. " Where's the principal?" Johnny asked. " He's not coming," I explained. Johnny got an angry look. " Not coming?" " no," Dally continued. " He's gone, he left, we're the only ones in the whole building right now." Two Bit groaned and then let out a moan. " Two Bit!" Ponyboy cried as he crawled over to him. " Are you okay, man?" " Oh, yeah," Tw Bit answered weakly. " It's just this thing is getting heavy on my back. I'm lucky that I didn't get parylized from this, you know. I think I've only got a broken arm and maybe a broken leg, but I'm not sure right now."

We all got close to him to try to comfort him. wo Bit continued. " Please, though, guys, I'm very greatful that you're staying for me and everything, but this just isn't the place for you guys, you know? You guys should just leave. I'll wait for people to come and rescue me." Dally shook his head. " No way, Two Bit, we're not leaving this school until you're out of here." Two Bit sighed. I had never seen Two Bit in such a horrible situation before. He was always the joker in the gang, but now he was more serious and frightened than ever. He looked over at the doorway. I think that he was trying to see if anyone was coming to help us. " Listen, guys," Two Bit said. " I'm very greatful to all of you for staying here all this time."

" God, why aren't they back?" Johnny suddenly said. " They have to come soon." " I don't know," I said. Then I whispered, " But we have to get a doctor here soon." Suddenly, we heard a rumbling sound. It startled Two Bit. " What's that?" he cried. Dally replied, " I think it's the building. It's probably breaking apart in the core or something like that. It's nothing to worry about, Two Bit." The pipes above us started to vibrate. Then, Two Bit let out a yell. " What is it?" I asked. " A pipe's leaking under here below the floor," he replied. We could all hear the water tinkling. " We don't have much time," ponyboy said. " we probably have about one hour to get him out of here!" Two Bit didn't react at all. I think that he was thinking about what might happen to him in one hour.

" We won't leave him, though, will we?" Dally asked. We all shook our heads. " Of course we won't." Two Bit wiped a tear from his cheek with his good arm. Two Bit then said, ' I can feel the water coming around me, it's rising. There isn't much time left. You're trying to be kind, but don't you see? I'm not worth sticking around for, you've got to get home to your own families now." Two Bit said no more. By now he realized that we wouldn't leave him no matter what happened. We all got down close to him again. Dally put a hand through Two Bit's hair as Two Bit whispered. " It's getting awfully quiet." " Well," Johnny said. " It's going to take a few minutes for the bus to get back here." I said, ' Don't worry, Two Bit, he'll be coming back for you, he will. You'll be out of here really soon." Ponyboy noded with my words. To tell you the truth, none of us knew what was going to happen.

Chapter Five - Tight Spot

We sat there with Two Bit as the water was rising around his body. He told us that now he was afraid being drownd. We knew what he must have been feeling. He was in a tight spot right now with water rising below him. He suddenly just let it all out. He sobbed as he said, " You guys, I've been laying here and I've just been thinking about you guys and the fact that I'm so lucky to have loving and caring friends like you. Now that I think of it, I want you to stay because I want you guys to be with me every moment. Please don't leave me here, guys, I need to be with you. I can't afford to be alone, please stay with me."

" Don't worry, buddy, we will," Dally said. " We're staying right here." Two Bit chuckled. " I love you, guys." Ponyboy looked at him and said, " No, don't do that, don't act like you're sayingh goodbye to us, Two Bit, you're going to get out of here, I promise you, okay?" Two Bit smiled as if he had been cheered up by what Ponyboy said. The building suddenly growned. It was probably having structural failure where most of the damage had been. Dally told me that as we sat there with Two Bit, waiting for the driver to return. And when the water began coming out into the room from the hole where Two Bit lay and we thought that we had lost all hope, we heard the bus coming into the parking lot of the school. " Oh, my God!" Johnny cried. " They're here!" " They're here!" Two Bit cheered. " They're here!" Ponyboy and I splashed through the half an inch deep water and headed out to get the driver to where he had to go.

The driver greeted us at the entrance. He was carrying an electric drill. " I brought this so we can cut a hole in the piece of ceiling," he told us. " Let's get to work!" We rushed back to the teacher's lounge. The water was two inches deep from the floor now. It was right below Two Bit's chin. " We've got a drill!" I told the others. Dally and Johnny came over to help us get it ready to cut. " Does the electricity work in here?" the driver asked us. " Yeah, I think so," Dally said. " The lights in the hall are still on, but they're flickering, we better hurry!"

" alright, alright," the driver continued. " as you know, I'm just a school bus driver, so I'll try my best to get him out of here." We all nodded. I said, " we know, but we need help from anyone we can get and you're our only hope noe. He's got rising water, toxic gas coming out of the vents, and he needs a shot from a doctor very soon. Let's start now!"

Dally, Johnny, Ponyboy, the driver, and I all got the drill plugged in and started. The driver handled it in his hands and got ready to cut through the rubble. Dally and I put our hands below Two Bit's mouth so he wouldn't be able to breath in any water which was over his chin now.

Chpter Six - Just In Time

The driver put the drill to the piece of ceiling behind us and began cutting. Dally and I tried our best at keeping Two Bit's head above the water, but he was still choking a little on it. " I'll be alright," he said. " I'll be out of here in a minute." Two Bit mumbled over the rising water. The vent on the wall was beginning to steam again, letting out that toxic gas. We were lucky that Two Bit was nearly out.

Dally saw a straw nearby on the floor. He had Two Bit put it in his mouth so he could use it like a snorkle. " Here, breathe through this," Dally said to him. We both still tried to keep his head above the water. The woodwork around us groaned and creaked. Over the loud grinding sound created by the drill, the driver shouted, " Okay, it's only a little bit more now." That was a good thing. The water was nearly up to Two Bit's nose.

" Okay," the driver said as the drill shut off. " I've got it cut through!" He lifted the wood and there was now a hole that was big enough to reach in and out of. Johnny came over to Dally and I as Ponyboy went over to help the driver. " Hey, I can see why he couldn't get out!" Ponyboy said. " There's a smashed desk under here, it pinned his legs down. We'll try to move it out of here and he should be able to get out!" Johnny, Dally, and I lifted Two Bit's head out of the water. " Here we go!" Ponyboy cried. The driver and he pulled out a huge chunk of woof followed by a few desk legs. " Alright, try pulling him out now!" Ponyboy said. The three of us lifted Two Bit out from under the wreckage. He was free! Two Bit smiled with a look of hapiness on his face as we pulled him out.

" Okay," the driver said. " What are your injuries?" Dally and I grabbed onto Two Bit as he spoke. " My right arm is broken," he started. " And both of my legs feel like they're broken, my right leg is the one that's cut." Dally and I carried Two Bit out of the school and he was then taken to the hospital to recover. Dally, Ponyboy, Johnny, and I went to see him the next day. He had gotten a shot and he had casts on his right arm and both of his legs. " I just want to tell you guys," he said. " That I love you all."

The End

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